I love making terrariums, and last month I used Jenny Ryan's fantastic tutorial to create a whole herd of them in Mason jars. Then this week I started thinking about making a tiny version inside a baby food jar, and it was so much fun to do in miniature! While I had baby-food-jar crafting on my mind, I also put together a little kit for making fresh chai tea with spices and loose-leaf tea using two jars—an easy surprise gift for a friend.

These materials will make one terrarium and one chai-tea kit.

What you'll need:

Three empty baby food jars with lids (I used two larger and one smaller)

Paintbrush and acrylic paint in the colors of your choice

Sealer

Three large, flat-backed buttons (or any other embellishment) and glue

Loose-leaf tea, spices (I used cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and ginger), and a tag and ribbon for the tea kit

Charcoal, moss and soil, and small decorations for the terrarium

1. Clean and dry each jar. If adhesive from the labels is hard to remove, try using alcohol and a scrubby sponge in addition to washing them with hot water and soap.

Paint each lid in the color of your choice.

2. Add one layer of acrylic paint to each jar lid. Let it dry thoroughly before adding a second coat. When you are pleased with the appearance, add a layer of sealant to protect the paint and let that dry, too. (You can also spray-paint the lids or use another paint type—I used acrylic since it's nontoxic and I have a baby at home.)